Watch: GOP Candidate Delivers The Perfect 1-Minute Message For Veterans Day That Obama Needs To Hear

One candidate campaigning in the 2016 presidential race said a way to thank America’s veterans is simply to keep the promises made to them when they enlisted.

“Well, I think thanking our veterans is a wonderful thing to do, but they’d sure appreciate a better paycheck,” said Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. “They’d appreciate the fact that we kept our promises to them.”

Huckabee addressed the question of veterans during the earlier GOP debate held in Milwaukee, Minn., on Nov. 10. The debate, referred to by some as the “undercard debate,” featured four candidates whose poll numbers are between 1 and 2.5 percent. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Sen. Rick Santorum shared the debate stage with Huckabee.

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Huckabee said this country could do a lot more to keep promises of health care and education to veterans. A secret list that covered lengthy appointment wait times at the Veterans Health Administration center in Phoenix, Ariz., was discovered a year and a half ago. Reports state that at least 40 veterans died while waiting on care.

There have been investigations, resignations and a $16 billion law to resolve problems. However, veterans protesting this week reveal little has changed. Huckabee said that is unacceptable.

“The men and women in uniform put on the uniform of our nation. They went halfway around the world. They face dangers on our behalf, and we promised them if they did that, when they came home, we’d take care of their medical care. We’d make it possible for their kids to go to college and they’d be able to bind to a home,” he said.

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The candidate also commented that failing to keep those promises resulted in lower interest in military service.

“They kept their promises to us. We have not kept our promises to them, and today, less than one percent of Americans go to the military for service,” he said.

He said the United States hasn’t fulfilled its moral obligation to care for veterans.

“We’re fighting wars with other people’s kids in large measure because we’ve not taken seriously the moral, not the monetary, the moral obligation to take care of the veterans and to keep America’s promise to the ones who kept their promise to America,” Huckabee said.